Thermodynamic properties and equilibrium chemical composition of complex gas mixtures (Earth, Mars and Jupiter atmospheres) have been calculated in the framework of the statistical thermodynamics, exploiting a fast and stable algorithm for the solution of the chemical equilibrium composition with the hierarchical approach. A simplified model, the two-level approach, to calculate partition functions and thermodynamic properties of atomic species has been proposed, reducing the number of the true atomic states in few virtual levels through a grouping procedure.
Transport coefficients (thermal conductivity λ, viscosity η and electrical conductivity σe) for plasmas generated in the impact of space vehicles on different planetary atmospheres (Earth, Jupiter, Mars), have been derived, in the framework of the Chapman Enskog theory, considering a high-order approximation and including also minor species. The core of the calculation is represented by the characterization of binary interactions, i.e. the derivation of collision integrals, describing the microscopic dynamics. The phenomenological approach has been proposed and validated for a number of different systems, that is based on modeling the average interparticle interaction with a phenomenological potential, whose parameters can be estimated through correlation formulas from physical properties of the collisional partners. Moreover a novel efficient algorithm has been implemented based on fractal integration.
The web-access computational tool EquilTheta, that calculates chemical equilibrium product concentrations, thermodynamic and transport properties for a given mixture in wide temperature and pressure ranges, is the focus of a business plan for the creation of a CNR-UniBAS spin-off.

High-Density Plasmas

The thermodynamic properties and the electrical conductivity of non-ideal, high-density hydrogen plasma have been investigated, accounting for quantum effects due to the change in the energy spectrum of atomic hydrogen when the electron-proton interaction is considered embedded in the surrounding particles. High-density conditions have been simulated assuming a simple confined-atom model, with the atom fixed in the centre of a spherical box, or atomic hydrogen subject to a screened Coulomb potential.

Laser-induced Plasmas

Laser induced plasma, LIP, is a technique of growing interest in different fields such as material processing, diagnostic, chemical analysis and space applications (Mars Curiosity Rover). Theoretical investigations have been dedicated to verify the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), commonly considered for calibration-free LIBS.

electron and phonon dynamics in metals
A similar approach can be used to investigate electron and phonon gas in a solid hitted by a fs laser pulse, exciting the electrons, which relax in ps range exchanging energy with the phonon-lattice.

Fluctuations in Gases and Plasmas

Fluctuation theory describes fundamental plasma processes and also provides expressions for the spectral densities of fluctuating plasma quantities as function of the averaged distribution function. This particular outcome of the fluctuation framework constitutes the basis of a number of independent diagnostics that can be implemented in diverse plasma environments. While fluctuation theory is rigorous for collisionless fully ionized plasmas, there exist regimes where approximate methods have to be invoked. Numerical experiments, which are performed by mean of Molecular Dynamics simulations, allows us to explore such regimes which are intractable by the analytical approach.

Latest News

The IV edition of TERAMETANANO, the International Conference on Terahertz Emission, Metamaterials and Nanophotonics, will take place in Lecce (Italy) from 27 to 31 of May 2019 in the 16th-century Castle of Charles V with two special nights that will be held in an original Theatre of Roman period.

TERAMETANANO is an annual conference that gather physicists studying a wide variety of phenomena in the areas of nano-structures, nano-photonics and meta-materials, with special attention to the coupling between light and matter and in a broad range of wavelengths, going from the visible up to the terahertz.

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